"Home is where the heart is” doesn't begin to describe the little town of Ithaca, California. In a place where even the most complete strangers are welcome, Ithaca gives people a feeling of belonging. In the town of Ithaca everyone knows everyone, everything a person does is headline news, and everyone always tries to make a person feel right at home no matter where "home" is. For example, Mrs. Macauley is happy to give a perfect stranger a home because of his simple desire to live in a place he'd heard about from Marcus. William Soroyan wrote this book in a time where good feelings are hard to come by.
Marcus Macauley is the eldest son of the Macauley family. His brother, Homer, is only fourteen-years-old but has to become the man of the house because Marcus is going off to fight in World War II. Homer, the new messenger of postal service, has to deliver messages to everyone around town. The only bad thing is he can't take having to tell a mother that her son has just died in the war. Even though mothers' sons have just given up their lives for the United States they still always try to make visitors feel at home in their houses. The setting of The Human Comedy plays an important role on the reader's attitude and affects his mood in a positive way. There are also many little kids in this story; they all try to get into mischief constantly. Ulysses, Homer's younger brother, and a group of older boys are trying to steal apricots. What they don't know is that the old man who lives in the house is actually intrigued every year by the little boys trying to steal the fruit. The old man comes at just the right time to try and scare off the boys, and does so in a fine fashion. Today, if a person is caught stealing something he would go to jail, or possibly even a juvenile detention center, but not in Ithaca. The town is so small and welcoming that it doesn't matter if a person steals an apricot because the old man really doesn't care about that tree. He just likes to see the boys come around and get into mischief. Soroyan also puts a church scene in this book to represent unity in a group of people. Church makes people feel good about who they are and what they are going to do with their lives.
In the time of World War II, comfort and comedy were hard to come by. But Soroyan writes the setting of this story to make the hearts of people everywhere feel warm and caring. The setting of The Human Comedy is what every person dreams about. It's a nice quiet town with no disturbances or people getting into trouble. Everyone always tries to help in any situation they can in another person's life. Neighboors help others by making sure they have food, money, clothing, and always a place to live. In a depressing time around the world, William Soroyan's intent might have been to make everyone in the world feel awesome. I believe that he achieves this through the design of the story's setting.
Marcus Macauley is the eldest son of the Macauley family. His brother, Homer, is only fourteen-years-old but has to become the man of the house because Marcus is going off to fight in World War II. Homer, the new messenger of postal service, has to deliver messages to everyone around town. The only bad thing is he can't take having to tell a mother that her son has just died in the war. Even though mothers' sons have just given up their lives for the United States they still always try to make visitors feel at home in their houses. The setting of The Human Comedy plays an important role on the reader's attitude and affects his mood in a positive way. There are also many little kids in this story; they all try to get into mischief constantly. Ulysses, Homer's younger brother, and a group of older boys are trying to steal apricots. What they don't know is that the old man who lives in the house is actually intrigued every year by the little boys trying to steal the fruit. The old man comes at just the right time to try and scare off the boys, and does so in a fine fashion. Today, if a person is caught stealing something he would go to jail, or possibly even a juvenile detention center, but not in Ithaca. The town is so small and welcoming that it doesn't matter if a person steals an apricot because the old man really doesn't care about that tree. He just likes to see the boys come around and get into mischief. Soroyan also puts a church scene in this book to represent unity in a group of people. Church makes people feel good about who they are and what they are going to do with their lives.
In the time of World War II, comfort and comedy were hard to come by. But Soroyan writes the setting of this story to make the hearts of people everywhere feel warm and caring. The setting of The Human Comedy is what every person dreams about. It's a nice quiet town with no disturbances or people getting into trouble. Everyone always tries to help in any situation they can in another person's life. Neighboors help others by making sure they have food, money, clothing, and always a place to live. In a depressing time around the world, William Soroyan's intent might have been to make everyone in the world feel awesome. I believe that he achieves this through the design of the story's setting.